An Isolated Cage And A Song Bird's Key
by Hawkflight7
Summary: It all started with those words, "The main obstacle in your way to being a good kunoichi is the way you interact with others. We're getting a new student in from Suna today and I want you to show him around. His name is Gaara."
1. Chapter 1

**An Isolated Cage And A Song Bird's Key - Prologue**

**Summary: It all started with those words, "The main obstacle in your way to being a good kunoichi is the way you interact with others. We're getting a new student in from Suna today and I want you to show him around. His name is Gaara."**

**So first you should know this isn't a complete AU as it will follow canon for a bit (technically, kind of... i said kind of!), but then it's going to diverge (cause the canon is waaay too long). Anyway, enjoy!**

Hinata hurried down the hall, feet hitting the wood beneath her in a series of quick taps. The only sound that could be heard throughout the hall at this time in the morning. Everyone else was likely still at home getting ready for the day, but she had come in early to work on her taijutsu. Even with her lineage she struggled with it. It was the main reason her father had taken to giving her younger sister private lessons instead of herself like he used to.

Which left her to train by herself when she could find the time - it was getting easier, really. What with her father focusing on Hanabi as the heiress of the clan, and teaching her what that meant, the duties that came with such a title... everything she didn't need to know anymore.

She pushed at the door at the end of the hall, sun light filtering through the crack that grew wider, blinding her before a shadow appeared to block the sun. "Ah, s-sorry Suzume sensei."

The chunin stood in the doorway, the knob of the door pressing into her hip the only thing keeping it open as Hinata's arms had dropped back to her sides at realizing she had almost hit one of her teachers with a door. "No worries, Hinata." The woman assured her, glancing down at a planter she carried before brushing strands of dark curls behind an ear. "Actually it's good that I ran into you. Would you mind accompanying me to my classroom?"

"Um..." After getting up early and everything else she really wanted to go out and start with her extra training, but her sensei had to have a reason for asking her to the classroom and it would be rude of her to refuse. It's not like she was stopped regularly like this and from the tone of Suzume's voice she wasn't in any trouble. "Sure."

Hinata stepped back, allowing her sensei to enter the building and followed a few steps behind her wondering how long this would take. It was still an hour before school started so no matter what it was she should have plenty of time for her own practice. Still, she hadn't expected anyone else to be here so early.

"Hinata?"

"Y-yes." She looked up quickly at the sound of her name being called.

Suzume was standing in her classroom, keeping the door open with the heel of her foot as she gazed at Hinata, lips pinched together in thought. "Come help me with this planter while I discuss something with you."

Huh? Discuss something? What could she possibly have to discuss with her? Unless... Was she in trouble? She fought back the urge to cringe at the thought and instead gave a nod of her head that she hoped didn't look as dejected as she felt.

After a few taps of her shoes on the floor she was in the room, the door sliding closed behind her and she made her way to the front of the room where Suzume was standing now, checking the soil with her fingertips. "I know you're a bit shy, but you really should give an actual response rather than just shaking or nodding your head."

Hinata didn't say anything as she leaned back against one of the desks. She recognized that tone. It was the same one her father used just before he started lecturing her, which he still did plenty of - as long as it didn't get in the way of Hanabi's training that is.

There was a sigh from Suzume and her shoulders tensed, drawing themselves up as if to shield her from what was about to come. "First of all, I want you to know that I'm not picking on you because of your stutter. I get being nervous and you have improved... a bit anyways since I've known you. Do you remember your first day in my class, Hinata?" She gave a nod of her head, afraid that she wouldn't be able to say anything if she attempted to speak right now beyond a few vowel sounds. "'Yes,'" Suzume confirmed, but after waiting a second for Hinata to utter the word she continued. "I asked you why you wanted to become a ninja. Do you remember what you said?"

She did. "I w-want to be b-better. To-to prove that even if I'm n-not good enough to be the heir of the c-clan that I can still be a good n-ninja."

"Right." Suzume opened a bag of seeds, sprinkling a few into the soil. "To be a good kunoichi. Now I have looked at your scores in all your classes before, and though you're not the best in any particular class you're not below average either. The main obstacle in your way to being a good kunoichi is the way you interact with others. Even with those in the village who you're familiar with you still stutter and are quiet a lot of the time. In a mission where if you were infiltrating an enemy village that behavior would not be looked upon very well. It would be interpreted as being nervous, no matter the actual reason and you would be under suspicion because of that. Do you see what I'm getting at?" Suzume finally looked up from the planter, having smoothed the soil over the seeds and fed it with water.

Hinata gave another nod of her head, then after a second forced herself to answer verbally, "Yes." Somehow she managed to keep the stutter out of her voice this time.

The woman's lips quirked up into a smile. "Better. To assure you keep that up I'm giving you a special task."

"Spe-cial t-task?" She couldn't stop herself from wondering what it could be, but she assumed it would have to do with interacting with others.

"Mhm." Suzume placed the planter at the front right corner of the desk. "We're getting a new student in from Suna today. So I need you to show him around and if need be teach him any culture differences so the transition runs smoothly for him. His name is Gaara, and I expect you to learn from this experience. This will only help you, and besides, it never hurts to have a friend in another village."


	2. Chapter 2

**An Isolated Cage And A Song Bird's Key - 1**

**Thanks for the wonderful reviews! I'm glad everyone liked the prologue so far. Now on with the show! **

"W-when will he be getting h-here?"

It was the first and most important question she could think of at the moment. Otherwise she just wanted to get out of the room. She knew Suzume meant well but this conversation - lecture - had taken longer than she thought it would.

"This morning." Suzume bent down to pick up a file, flipping it open to glance over it as she continued to speak, "I don't have an exact time for you, but I imagine he'll be here within thirty minutes. So at least ten minutes before classes start. You should probably start with showing him around the school when he does get here. Introduce him to the other students, anything you can think of to make him more comfortable. As far as I know it is his first time away from home so do keep that in mind."

Suzume was flipping through the folder once again before there was a soft clang on the desk and Hinata did her best to hide the fact that the sudden noise had caused her to jump. Thankfully her sensei didn't seem to notice. If she had Suzume likely would have said something to her about that behavior, how it was another thing Hinata needed to work on. Instead she plucked a key from the surface of the desk, stepping around it towards Hinata, leaving the file closed on her desk.

"After school you'll need to accompany him to his new home while he stays here. Just show him where it is and make sure he knows the route from the school and back so he won't get lost or be late. Okay?"

For a moment she just stared at the key dangling from her sensei's finger before reaching out to have it dropped into the palm of her hand. The metal was thin, tinted green with a slip of paper curled around the ring-shaped end that must have the address scrawled onto it's surface. Hinata gave a small nod of her head.

The chunin seemed to regard her for a moment. "This isn't a one day job, Hinata. I expect to see you getting along with the new student, not standing a kilometer or two behind him, got it?"

Her ears practically went red. "Y-yes, sensei. I un-understand."

"Good." Suzume paused as she went back around the desk to grab the file, straightening out the papers and making sure the edges were perfectly aligned before putting it back in her desk. "I'll see you in a few days, then."

With it finally over Hinata clutched the key in her hand and swiftly left the room, breaking out into a run down the hall to burst from the school building and out into the cool morning air. She drank in the pleasant taste of morning dew, letting the beating in her chest calm before glancing toward the storage unit near the back of the wall that surrounded the training grounds of the school.

With a sigh she slid the key into her pocket before making the trek over and pulling open a door to step inside. She almost couldn't believe what had just happened, and it would happen to her. Her luck really was terrible. Just at the moment she was going to start making some real progress with her training - at least, she hoped she would - she was given a task like this. Suzume hadn't even said for how long it would last. Actually, from the way her sensei worded it the assignment was to last until she said otherwise, or just forgot about it... Was that a possibility or just her own wishful thinking?

Hinata slowly uncurled her hands from the fabric of her jacket. No. This was Suzume, she wouldn't just forget. So she really was stuck with this task then, on top of everything else. Well, maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

She grabbed a thin sheet from a shelf before walking back out of the unit, closing the door behind her. Hinata walked over to one of the trees that already had a pad wrapped around the trunk and fit the sheet on top of the surface, pushing the edges into the corners so it wouldn't fall off when she hit it. With that in place she stepped back and took up the stance of the Hyuuga Clan.

Within a second she had activated her byakugan. The world shifted, seeming to surround her in her own cocoon, except for that thin line just behind her. She concentrated on just the area ahead of her, looking at the tree to find some small imperfection in the rings before striking out with the palm of her hand.

Hinata focused on that small area, continuing to strike it again and again, making sure her hands didn't falter in the slightest. Just find that one little spot, so similar to a chakra point and be sure to hit it. With each hit of her hands she changed the flow of her chakra.

The chakra she had just striked with would have halted the flow of chakra in her opponent. So her next strike needed to make the chakra flow back through the body once again. If there was a body.

Upon hearing people walking on the other side of the wall Hinata lowered her arms, closing her eyes for a second as she deactivated her byakugan. Some of the other students were arriving now and she had her knew task to deal with or else she would have continued training up until the bell rang, signalling all students to get to their classes in the next few minutes. With a sigh she opened her eyes and leaned forward, taking off the sheet even though she hadn't managed to train hard enough to draw blood.

At least she had manged to get some training done, but now she had to go and look for the new student and hope he was here now like her teacher had said. What if it was like Suzume said though and he had gotten lost because it was his first time here?

She shook her head hard. No, no someone could have given him directions to the academy if that was the case. Besides it shouldn't be too hard to find him. He would be around their age, a shinobi in training, and new to town so she would never have seen him before. Oh! But what if she mistook another kid that was here with their parents for him? They did get tourists just like every other village. What if-

The dip of a branch in a nearby tree caught her attention. If it hadn't been for the leaves moving though she never would have noticed it. Currently the air was still, so no parts of the tree should be moving in the first place.

Hinata looked up quickly, blinking in surprise. She hadn't known she had had an audience. How long had this boy been standing there? And how come she hadn't noticed him? Well, she was turning out to be a laughing stock of the shinobi if someone could sneak up on her so easily.

The boy was standing on the branch of the tree, close to the trunk, eyes on her looking almost... bored. No, more like impassive. It was as if his face was neutral to emotion. She felt her eyes drawn to the scar just above his left eye, it was the character for love and she couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten such an unusual yet beautiful scar. The lines were precise, just like when the character was written with a brush and ink. Then her gaze moved to the gourd on his back made out of sand... Sand.

"Ah, are you G-gaara?"

There was a slight tilt of his head at her question as he seemed to consider answering. It was another second before he spoke, "Yes." His voice was low, rough. If there was ever a voice that could kill it was likely his.

It sent an unpleasant shiver down her back. "My n-name is Hinata. I w-was asked to h-help you settle i-in." She waited a second, then another before realizing he was probably waiting for her to say more. Hinata gulped softly, hoping that her voice wouldn't betray her so much this time around. "Everyone in our year has the same sc-schedule," Damn it. "I c-could show y-ou to the c-classrooms now or w-wait until the b-bell rings and show you to the f-first class, and t-take it from there for the d-day."

At his continued silence she glanced up through her lashes, hoping she hadn't just made too much of a fool of herself. His next words only cemented that idea though. "I don't need help."

She felt her heart beat faster in her chest. "But-" His hard stare made her falter. But she _had_ to help him. Suzume had said so. It was her task! If she went to her sensei saying that the new student didn't want her help the instructor wasn't going to take that for an answer. She would be told to do it anyway. "Suzume sensei t-told me I was to h-help you a-and that's w-what I'm go-going to d-do." She hated her stutter right then. Even with her voice being a bit higher in pitch she doubted she had sounded very in control of the situation with it.

"What jutsu does this Suzume teach?"

Hinata almost jumped from the sound of his voice. Why was he asking what-_oh_. "You won't m-meet her. She t-teaches me and the o-others how to be kun-kunoichi."

She didn't see his expression change, but he likely understood now why one of the instructors would give her such a task when it had nothing to do directly with training. Well, at least she was able to give him an answer that made more sense. Maybe now he would let her do her given task. "Does everyone here talk like you?"

Her eyes widened at his next question and she felt her cheeks grow hot under his unmoving gaze. "N-no, it-it's ju-just m-me," as the words left her lips she was sure her whole face had gone as red as a tomato. Oh, dear. Had she really just said _that_? And why did he have to ask her such an embarrassing question in the first place? Was he making fun of her?

She glanced up quickly to see him just blink at her before stepping off of the tree. Well, at least he wasn't laughing. "Let's go then."


	3. Chapter 3

**An Isolated Cage And A Song Bird's Key - 2**

**Yes, her stuttering is worse around Gaara.**

She stared at him for a moment. Was that it? He wasn't going to continue asking her about the stutter? Poke fun at her for it like how some other people did just to cause her further embarrassment?

Hinata waited another second but when he still did nothing she let out a little sigh of relief. The issue had been dropped. That was good, she would rather not become incapable of speech right this instant - which happened occasionally either when her friends joked about her stuttering or when her father would launch into a lecture when she had messed up in training. She didn't really have to worry about the latter happening anymore though.

"R-right this w-way." She turned as she spoke, walking back toward the academy doors, looking over her shoulder once to make sure he was following her.

She turned back, pressing the door open and holding it until he was inside and quickly move to the closest door. "Th-this room is used f-for the taijutsu c-class. It's the closest-st one to the t-training grounds where w-we just came fr-from. There's also a-another door in the c-class leading out-outside to the t-track and m-more sports oriented-ed areas." Hinata made her way to the next door down, only taking a second to stop next to it to explain it was the storage room before going across the hall to the first door on the right. "I-iruka sensei ho-holds his classes h-here. He's the nin-ninjutsu instructor."

Hinata took a breath, backing up to press her hands to her warming face. Ooh, why did she have to be the one to do this? Surely Suzume would have wanted this new student to be more talkative, ask her more questions to make her talk even more than she had to, but even with that not being the case she was struggling. And she wasn't even sure which scenario she would have preferred either.

This boy hardly seemed to talk himself, but it was evident that he wasn't nervous about ir or anything. He just didn't care to. She was sure if she glanced back now his face would still be as impassive as ever. When Suzume had put her to this task did she know just how hard it would be to interact with him at all?

At least with a student that was equivalent to a chipmunk she could pretend to have a conversation, and they would likely force an answer out of her by continued pestering as well.

None of this was accounting for the fact that his 'normal' expression looked suspiciously like a 'bored enough to kill' expression. She could feel his gaze on her - which, granted it should be - but, with that expression she felt like he was considering ways to kill her.

He just looked so damn scary!

And right now she probably looked like an idiot standing in the hall covering her face like this. She still had three more doors to go too, the last one being Suzume's.

Slowly she let her hands fall back down, took a small gulp of air and turned to walk to the next door. Hinata stood still for a moment, trying to still her tongue before she spoke again, "In this room you'll be learning about genjutsu from Daikoku sensei. And," she turned on her heel with a soft mutter, feeling like his eyes were burning two small holes into her back. "Here is where a few of the students hold club meetings when the instructors aren't using it for a test. It's also were you'll be taking the final exam before you graduate. The c-club hours-" Oh no. "Are he-held for an hour after sc-school on week days an-and it's the only classroom o-open during Saturday for the whole d-day. On Sunday i-it's closed along w-with the rest of th-the school."

Darn it. She sighed, and she had kept the stutter from getting in the way for so long to. It just took so much of her concentration to do so.

Hinata turned to the last door, making her way over a bit slower this time. As much as she hoped Suzume hadn't seen her mess up it was likely she had. Would her sensei lecture her in front of the new student?

She could feel her cheeks darken at the mere thought. "This is Su-Suzume's-"

The door opened and Hinata quickly stepped back and out of the way. "You must be Gaara," Suzume said as she stepped out into the hallway looking to the new student. "I hope you made it here okay."

"It was no trouble getting here."

"Good, very good." Suzume turned her gaze to her then and Hinata had the overwhelming urge to sink into the wall that was still a few feet behind her. "I hope Hinata hasn't been giving you too much trouble." She wished with all her might that the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

"No." She could feel his gaze on her again and was sure he would tell Suzume what he had told her not too long ago. That he didn't need help. "She was just telling me the layout of the academy."

"Great. Then I'll see you around and, Hinata?"

"Y-yes?" her voice practically came out in a squeak and she had to fight back the urge to cringe away from her sensei.

The corner of Suzume's lip turning down was enough incentive for her to know she had just disappointed her, besides making a fool out of herself for the millionth time in front of the new student. "I'll see you on Monday."

She just gave a nod, not trusting herself to speak further at this point, and quickly stepped to the side so Suzume could pass by and continue down the hall until the beat her sandals made on the floor disappeared from the air. When silence fell over the hall she quickly turned to Gaara, "W-we can go to the c-class and wait th-there for it to st-art."

At his own silence she took it to mean he would follow her to the class for ninjutsu and quickly walked down the hall, pulling open the door to slip inside and walk to her seat. It was only when she reached her desk when she stopped again, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Umm... Gaara-san? I-if we sit n-next to e-each other I can f-fill you in on anything that s-sensei has us working o-on." She forced herself to turn and face him properly. "That is, if you t-think you would n-need it or-"

"That's fine."

She practically jumped at the sound of his voice. Even though she had just heard it not too long ago in the hall it still made her blood freeze in her veins. "O-okay, either seat will be f-fine we don't have assigned seating h-here."

Hinata sat down in her seat quickly until she lost total control of her voice, watching him maneuver to the seat on her left out of the corner of her eye. His close proximity was unnerving to say the least, and now that he was sitting beside her she could have sworn the air had grown colder.

The door opened then and more students quickly began to fill the room; talking loudly, laughing at the top of their lungs, feet hitting the panels with a thud with each step. She had to wonder what Gaara thought of her class just then. Was it anything like the one he had left behind at Suna?

"Settle down, everyone." Iruka slid the door closed behind him when he entered the room before heading to his desk to prepare for whatever lesson he had planned.

"Hey, Hinata," a voice sounded behind her and she turned to see Kiba leaning forward in his seat. "Who's the new kid?'

"He-he's a transfer student from Suna," she explained, not wanting to say anymore unless Iruka sensei got angry at her for talking during class and gave her a special task of his own.

"Hmm?" Bright yellow hair shifted off to her right and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. Blue eyes flickered over her to the new student before focusing to the front of the room. "Hey, Iruka sensei, how come you didn't tell us we were getting a new student?"

Iruka looked up from his desk at Naruto. "A transfer isn't final until the student comes to the academy."

As the instructor busied himself with something in a drawer Naruto turned around once more, setting her heart pounding once again. "So, what village are our from? What's your name?" Her shoulders nearly slumped when his gaze didn't even skirt over her, instead focusing on the ice cloud next to her.

"My name is, Gaara of the Sand."

The ice cloud seemed to have expanded around her when he spoke, enveloping her completely and she was sure more than half the class could feel it. Naruto had to be immune to the sudden chill when he pressed on, "Then you're from Suna, right?" She was sure he was receiving the same treatment she had earlier just then, the death eye.

There was a loud huff from behind her. "Hinata said he was a transfer student from Suna barely a minute ago. Weren't you listening?"

"Eh?" Naruto's gaze floated right over her to Kiba. "No. I just noticed he was new." His gaze was on her then and she could feel her skin warm. He was looking at _her_. "How did you know about the transfer before class, Hinata?"

"I-i was asked to h-help him settle in," she replied, wishing her voice didn't come out quite so soft. She just couldn't help it. Naruto-kun always brought out this side of her.

Naruto looked about to say something else when Iruka's voice filled the classroom, "Enough chatter. Class has officially started and we'll be practicing kunai throwing for the day." There was a mixture of groans and excited voices at this announcement. "Now, everyone head to the training grounds. Quietly, if you could, I don't want you disturbing any of the other classes."

"Yes, sensei," several voices echoed with hers, and then they were getting up and making their way outside.

Hinata slowed her pace to walk alongside Gaara instead of Kiba. The training area they were heading to was view-able from Suzume's room and the teacher would surely be watching her when the class didn't require her full attention. Besides, she had been given the task to help her, even if he was intimidating she needed to give it her all to better herself.

"Uh, Gaara-san," she paused, her fingers curling into the fabric of her jacket as she wracked her mind for something to say. "What's the vi-village like in S-una? Do y-ou miss it?" She wanted to hide her face all over again. What a lame question. Of course he missed it.

Still, she could feel his gaze on her and glanced over to see his eyes had narrowed slightly. It was no wonder she had felt a sudden chill down her spine a second after those words had slipped out of her. "Don't act as if you're interested when you're not."

"I-" she tried to say she was though. That it was somewhere she had never been before and she was curious about it but he cut her off before she could even begin.

"I'm sure you're task doesn't require you to know my life story. So, don't bother asking."

Hinata had to force her feet to keep moving so she wasn't left standing on the path in the still air. She didn't say another word though, she couldn't think of anything else. Suzume had mentioned becoming friends with the new transfer student but she couldn't see how that was possible when he was more prickly than a porcupine. Even with that not being part of the task it would seem it was only going to get harder from here on out.

"Get in a line, everyone." Iruka sensei instructed when they got to their location and the chatter that had started up during the short journey had died back down. Hinata waited for Gaara to get in the line before she got in behind him. That should satisfy Suzume for now if she happened to look over, she hoped. "Okay. There are dummies in the tree line, try to hit all the marks. This is to test your accuracy. After that exercise I'll put new markers near the dummies and you'll hit those without hitting the dummies, got it?"

"Yes, sensei," most of the class replied.

Once the line started to move the day seemed to move as fast as the kunai that flew through the air to find their marks among the straw and rough bark.

After ninjutsu was genjutsu, then taijutsu, and then finally the bell rang and the students ran outside to meet with their parents. Well, most of them.

Hinata leaned against the wall, watching her cousin Neji leave for the Hyuuga compound where her father was no doubt still training with Hanabi. Too busy to come and get her himself. Not when he had to start grooming her younger sister for leadership of the clan far later than he had started with her, back when she had still been thought of as salvageable.

She looked up when Gaara stepped out of the academy, having been held back by their taijutsu instructor to talk about something. Hinata hadn't been exactly listening to the conversation at the time, she had been much more interested with getting through the day without receiving another glare from him. "Gaara-san," she spoke to get his attention as the last student trailed after their parent and away from the academy. Hinata rummaged in her pockets for a moment as he approached before pulling out the key with the address. "I-i was asked t-to show you the w-way to where you'll b-be living while st-staying here."

Without waiting to see if he had even been close enough to hear her she turned and started walking down the path, winding her way in-between the buildings. She only stopped once, aware of his footsteps behind her. "O-over there is t-the market," she pointed in the direction as she spoke. "It's ju-just a block from y-your place so it sh-should be convenient f-for you."

Hinata resumed her walk down the street, turning a corner and stopping at a door a fourth way down the row. "Th-this is your p-place." She turned to face him then, her hand clutching onto the key. "I-I'm sorry about as-asking about Suna b-before. It was n-none of m-my business." Her fingers were close to shaking when she extended her hand to him. "Here's your key."

He was silent when he picked it up from the palm of her hand, the tips of his fingers leaving her skin cool in their wake. Gaara stepped past her to unlock the door and step into the apartment, stopping to survey the place inside. Before she could escape into the dying light of the afternoon he spoke, "Be here at eight." She blinked, not quite comprehending what he had just said. Gaara looked back over at her, his intense gaze burning right through her. "You're suppose to help me settle in aren't you?"

"Y-yes," she confirmed along with a quick nod.

The door closed behind him silently.


End file.
